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California-Bred Divisional Champions Announced; Horse Of The Year Revealed On March 15

The California-bred Horse of the Year for 2020 will be announced at the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association's Annual Meeting and Awards, which will be held via teleconference on Monday, March 15, 2021.

The time of the event, and call-in details, are still to be determined. The annual business meeting will be part of the conference call.

The three finalists for Horse of the Year, in alphabetical order, are: Bulletproof One, Mucho Unusual and Warren's Showtime.

Winners of the stallion divisions will be announced soon. Other Cal-bred champions that will be recognized during the teleconference:

Champion California-bred 2-Year-Old Male – Tie between Big Fish and Good With People. Big Fish, bred by George Krikorian, owned by Legacy Ranch, trained by David Hofmans; Good With People, bred and owned by J. Kirk and Judy Robison, trained by Peter Miller.

Champion California-bred 2-Year-Old Female – Governor Goteven, bred and owned by Templeton Horses LLC, trained by Walther Solis.

Champion California-bred 3-Year-Old Male – El Tigre Terrible, bred by Martin Bach, owned by Slam Dunk Racing and Michael Nentwig, trained by Peter Miller.

Champion California-bred 3-Year-Old Female – Warren's Showtime, bred by Benjamin Warren, owned by Benjamin and Sally Warren, trained by Craig Lewis.

Champion California-bred Older Male – Galilean, bred by Bar C Racing Stables, owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, Denise Barker, Williams Sandbrook, John Magnier, Michael B. Tabor and Derrick Smith, training by John Sadler.

Champion California-bred Older Female – Mucho Unusual, bred and owned by George Krikorian, trained by Tim Yakteen.

Champion California-bred Sprinter – Tie between Fashionably Fast and Sneaking Out. Fashionably Fast, bred by Harris Farms, owned by Harris Farms, Per Antonsen and John Nicoletti, trained by Dean Pederson. Sneaking Out, bred and owned by KMN Racing, trained by Jerry Hollendorfer.

Champion California-bred Turf Horse – Mucho Unusual, bred and owned by George Krikorian, trained by Tim Yakteen.

Trainer of the Year – Steve Miyadi.

Broodmare of the Year – Warren's Veneda, property of Benjamin Warren.

Champion Breeder of California Foaled Thoroughbreds by Earnings – Reddam Racing LLC.

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Mucho Unusual Headlines 2020 California-Bred Champions

The time of the event, and call-in details, are still to be determined. The annual business meeting will be part of the conference call.

The three finalists for Horse of the Year, in alphabetical order, are: Bulletproof One, Mucho Unusual and Warren's Showtime.

Winners of the stallion divisions will be announced soon. Other Cal-bred champions that will be recognized during the teleconference:

Champion California-bred Two-Year-Old Male – Tie between Big Fish and Good With People. Big Fish, bred by George Krikorian, owned by Legacy Ranch, trained by David Hofmans; Good With People, bred and owned by J. Kirk and Judy Robison, trained by Peter Miller.

Champion California-bred Two-Year-Old Female – Governor Goteven, bred and owned by Templeton Horses LLC, trained by Walther Solis.

Champion California-bred Three-Year-Old Male – El Tigre Terrible, bred by Martin Bach, owned by Slam Dunk Racing and Michael Nentwig, trained by Peter Miller.

Champion California-bred Three-Year-Old Female – Warren's Showtime, bred by Benjamin Warren, owned by Benjamin and Sally Warren, trained by Craig Lewis.

Champion California-bred Older Male – Galilean, bred by Bar C Racing Stables, owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, Denise Barker, Williams Sandbrook, John Magnier, Michael B. Tabor and Derrick Smith, training by John Sadler.

Champion California-bred Older Female – Mucho Unusual, bred and owned by George Krikorian, trained by Tim Yakteen.

Champion California-bred Sprinter – Tie between Fashionably Fast and Sneaking Out. Fashionably Fast, bred by Harris Farms, owned by Harris Farms, Per Antonsen and John Nicoletti, trained by Dean Pederson. Sneaking Out, bred and owned by KMN Racing, trained by Jerry Hollendorfer.

Champion California-bred Turf Horse – Mucho Unusual, bred and owned by George Krikorian, trained by Tim Yakteen.

Trainer of the Year – Steve Miyadi.

Broodmare of the Year – Warren's Veneda, property of Benjamin Warren.

Champion Breeder of California Foaled Thoroughbreds by Earnings – Reddam Racing LLC.

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Charmaine’s Mia Takes Buena Vista On The Stretch-Out For D’Amato

Relegated to sprinting in her last 21 starts, trainer Phil D'Amato's Charmaine's Mia handled a stretch-out to one mile on turf with aplomb on Saturday at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., as she pressed the early pace en route to a one-length score in the Grade 2, $200,000 Buena Vista Stakes. Ridden for the first time by Flavien Prat, she got the distance in 1:33.93.

With longshot Bohemian Bourbon fully committed to a front-running trip, Charmaine's Mia, who was an impressive 2 ½-length winner of the G3 Las Cienegas Stakes at six furlongs on turf Jan. 9, sat a close second to the quarter pole, where she took command and then held multiple graded stakes winning Mucho Unusual safe in the final sixteenth of a mile.

“She broke sharp,” said Prat, who collected his third win on the afternoon. “She's really fast out of the gate and I wanted to be on the lead, but the inside horse (Bohemian Bourbon) was pulling very hard, so we were second, which was as good place to be. When we made the lead at the quarter pole, she got a good breather and from there, she finished really well.”

Formerly based in Toronto at Woodbine, Charmaine's Mia was off at 16-1 in the Las Cienegas, which was her Southern California debut and first start for D'Amato. Heavily backed today at 6-5 in a field of nine older fillies and mares, she paid $4.60, $3.00 and $2.40.

“It's huge, Flavien said there's more in the tank,” said D'Amato. “She rated nice. If she needed to go a little further, it wasn't a problem. So that definitely broadens her horizons and maybe has us starting to look at Grade I's.”

Owned by Agave Racing Stable and Rockin Robin Racing Stables, Charmaine's Mia, a 5-year-old Kentucky-bred mare by The Factor out of the Bernstein mare Charming Vixen, notched her second graded stakes victory and improved her overall mark to 27-6-4-2. With the winner's take of $120,000, she increased her earnings to $352,976.

Trainer Tim Yakteen's Mucho Unusual, who was mid-pack early, put in a solid late run but ran out of real estate while finishing three quarters of a length in front of Warren's Showtime. A winner of two consecutive graded stakes at the current meeting, she was the second choice at 7-2 and paid $4.20 and $3.00 with Abel Cedillo up.

Consistent Warren's Showtime, who had three horses beat heading into the far turn, put in a solid late bid as well, but was third best on the day under Juan Hernandez. Off at 5-1, she paid $3.40 to show.

Fractions on the race were 22.65, 45.93, 1:09.75 and 1:21.75.

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‘I’ll Take A Barnful Like Her’: Mucho Unusual Does It All For Team Yakteen

If Mucho Unusual were human, she'd be considered an ideal employee. She's industrious, productive, honest and earns her keep.

Not much more one could ask for from an equine or a human.

A 5-year-old California-bred mare owned and bred by George Krikorian, Mucho Unusual lives up to her name as she has won sprinting on dirt and routing on grass, running her last 13 races in stakes competition, 12 in open company, including her most noteworthy triumph in the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive Stakes last September.

Next up: Saturday's Grade 2 Buena Vista Stakes at a mile on turf at Santa Anita Park, a race in which she was second last February. Victory would be worth $120,000, drawing her closer to millionaire status at $942,715.

“She's doing great,” said Tim Yakteen, who trains the bay for longtime client Krikorian. “She's in good form so we're good to go.”

Joel Rosario, who has ridden Mucho Unusual six times previously, winning three, pilots Knicks Go against Charlatan in the $20 million Saudi Cup Saturday, so Abel Cedillo rides her for the first time in the Buena Vista.

“It's been great working with an operation like George's,” said Yakteen, 56, the son of a German mother and a Lebanese-born father who joined the U.S. Army which earned him an assignment in Nuremberg, where Tim was born.

Krikorian built a career in real estate and commercial development before founding Kirkorian Premiere Theaters in 1984, but never lost sight of horses. His father, George Sr., trained horses in the 1960s and '70s.

Once asked what his father taught him, Krikorian quipped, “Well, he tried to teach me not to buy any horses, but I didn't listen.”

His steadfastness has paid off.

“George always puts the horse first and it's great working with someone like that,” observed Yakteen, who was assistant to Bob Baffert from 1988 through 1991 before working with another Hall of Fame trainer, the late Charlie Whittingham, for six years. Yakteen rejoined Baffert in 1997 and remained through 2004 before going on his own.

He is married to Millie Ball, a horsewoman in her native England and thus a knowledgeable TV commentator with XBTV.

“George raises fantastic horses,” Yakteen noted. “A number of them have been sold at auction and done exceptionally well. Honor A.P.is one. (The Honor Code colt sold for $850,000 at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton July sale and would go to win last year's Runhappy Santa Anita Derby). They are horses you want to get up for in the morning.”

Mucho Unusual is in that category, worth waking before sunrise.

“I'll take a barnful like her,” Yakteen said.

The Buena Vista, race seven of nine with a 12:30 p.m. first post time: Bohemian Bourbon, Jose Valdivia Jr., 20-1; Mucho Unusual, Abel Cedillo, 7-2; Warren's Showtime, Juan Hernandez, 5-1; Nasty, Ricardo Gonzalez, 6-1; Red Lark, Drayden Van Dyke, 8-1; Sedamar, Ruben Fuentes, 8-1; Going to Vegas, Mario Gutierrez, 6-1; Charmaine's Mia, Flavien Prat, 3-1; Sloane Garden, Tiago Pereira, 12-1; and Heathers Grey, Jessica Pyfer, 20-1.

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